I wish i heard of Jonathan. If he got his phD from Chicago, he probably knows Dr Sherman Jackson well!! In that case, he’d probably know Sheikh Naeem Abdul Wali very well as well!!!

I love it when someone reaches for the peak of eloquence in the arabic language- Arabic Morphology ROCKS!!!! IF u have the chance- learn Sarf ASAP!!! It helps u to understand anbd appreciate the Quran.

Ibn Hazm, in the last chapter of his book, Kitab al-Akhlaq wa’l Siyar, delves on this matter, and `On the manner to attend study sessions.’ He begins by saying (p.114):

“If you attend a study session, only behave like a man wishing to expand his knowledge and seeking a higher reward from God. Do not act like a man contend with what he holds, who is waiting for a weakness (from someone) to criticize (it or him), or an oddity to raise. This will be acting like vile people who have never mastered science.’

‘If you attend with good intentions you will obtain the best results. Otherwise just stay at home, awarding yourself rest, a good morality, and a salutary outcome in front of God.”

And (in pp 114-5):

“If you attended (a study session) strictly adopt three attitudes; there is no fourth.

First : You can lock yourself in the silence of ignorance.

Second: If you do not behave as such, ask for the questions a man seeking to learn asks…. This man will ask only about what he does not know, not about what he knows. Asking about matters one knows is making proof of ineptitude; this is only ranting, waste of time for everyone…. If the person you are questioning does not give satisfactory answers, stop questioning…

Third: You can answer like a scientist, refuting clearly the other’s arguments. If you are not capable of that, do not insist….”

SubhanAllah!

May Allah raise our ummah out of ignorance.

The part about having no adab is so true.

RasoolAllah salAllahu alayhi wa ala alayhi wa salam said that he was sent but to perfect ADAB.

I’m embarrassed for us and ashamed that this is what we have come to. I hope that Dr. Brown doesn’t see this exchange. It’s appalling and a true testament to our stupidity.

I almost laughed when I read the brother’s comment asking if he even knows Arabic. A professor of middle eastern studies at the University of Chicago once told me that Jonathan Brown probably has the best Arabic at the entire University! He has traveled, studied, and researched all over the world, from North Africa, to Egypt, to Yemen, to name but a few places.

Aside from a commanding knowledge of formal and informal dialects (His Egyptian ammia would make you think he is actually egyptian), his grasp on the science and history of hadith is nothing short of amazing. It is perhaps because of his deep familiarity with ahadith that he has so much respect for the scholars of hadith.

University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World
Advisory Editor, 2005-2008

EDUCATION:

University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Ph.D. in Islamic Thought, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations,
2001-August 2006 with honors
Minor: Modern Middle East History

Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), Cairo, Egypt
Certificate in Arabic language, June 2000-June 2001

Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Bachelor of Arts in History, magna cum laude, May 2000
Minor in Russian Language
Phi Beta Kappa awarded junior year (May 1999)
Completed Certificate in Islam and Muslim-Christian Understanding

LANGUAGES:

Arabic (fluent Classical, Egyptian and Saudi Arabic)
Persian (advanced reading knowledge, fluent spoken)
Urdu (basic)
Epigraphic South Arabian (reading knowledge of Ma’inian, Sabaic and other dialects of ancient South Arabian)
French (fluent reading and speaking)
German (reading knowledge)
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION & COMPETENCE:

Specialization

History of Islam, Islamic Law, Qur’an and Hadith, Sufism, Salafi and Wahhabi Islam, Islamic Historiography, Hermeneutic Traditions in Islam, Early Islamic History, Modern Islam